The euro area unemployment rate dropped to a new record low in May, figures from Eurostat showed on Thursday.
The jobless rate fell marginally to 6.6 percent in May from revised 6.7 percent in April. In the same month last year, the unemployment rate was 8.1 percent.
Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at April's initially estimated 6.8 percent.
The number of people out of job in the currency bloc decreased by 2.165 million from the last year to 11.004 million.
The youth unemployment rate declined to 13.1 percent in May from 13.8 percent in April. Youth unemployment decreased by 89,000 from April and by 608,000 from the same period last year, data showed.
The EU27 unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 percent in May.
